Would food that in routinely reheated spoil?

Suppose you have a huge pot of homemade Turkey stew and every other day you take it out of the fridge and heat it to near boiling, would it last forever? If you reheat meatloaf to 160 will it last forever?

ColdHouse wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 9:43 am

Suppose you have a huge pot of homemade Turkey stew and every other day you take it out of the fridge and heat it to near boiling, would it last forever? If you reheat meatloaf to 160 will it last forever?

No. You're eating it.

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 11:56 am

No. You're eating it.

Would it spoil from age?

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 11:56 am

No. You're eating it.

With some of the wifey's cooking, I just pretend.

davidmcbeth3 wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 1:09 pm

With some of the wifey's cooking, I just pretend.

Shush, she'll hear you.

ColdHouse wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 12:28 pm

Would it spoil from age?

At some point. No idea how long. I've left a large pot of soup on the stove for 3 days. Reheat it to boiling before dinner for a.few minutes. Didn't die.

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 2:01 pm

At some point. No idea how long. I've left a large pot of soup on the stove for 3 days. Reheat it to boiling before dinner for a.few minutes. Didn't die.

My theory is it would never spoil. If it was refrigerated when not kept hot and heated to proper temperature it would stay good as long as it lasted.

ColdHouse wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 2:14 pm

My theory is it would never spoil. If it was refrigerated when not kept hot and heated to proper temperature it would stay good as long as it lasted.

I would agree, provided we are talking maybe 4-5 days. At that point, it may be nothing but mush.

waytomany?s wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 15, 2023 6:16 pm

I would agree, provided we are talking maybe 4-5 days. At that point, it may be nothing but mush.

I am talking days, weeks, months and not questioning the consistency but whether harmful bacteria would be kept out of the food by continually reheating it.

If I have meat that will surely spoil if I do not cook it today, Cooking it extends the useful life of the food. Once cooked I can put in the refrigerator and it will last as long as meat cooked the day it was slaughtered.

I suppose if I had a huge pot of spaghetti sauce and every few days put it on the burner and thoroughly heated it, it would would not spoil. I suggest that each time it is heated to a temperature that kills bacteria the clock restarts and allows for refrigerated storage to begin again.

You probably could reheat food everyday for a long period of time, but I would tend to think that it would start to taste foul after a month or so.

Every time it gets cooled it will go thru the bacterial incubation temperature for a period of time.

How many hours would it take for a kettle of chilli to go rancid at room temperature? I figure that a kettle of chilli would spend 2 hours in the incubation zone as it's cooling in the fridge.

You'd be better off to keep it at 160 degrees for a month.

My parents talked about large stew pots that were always kept on a back burner of coal ranges that were running 24/7.

In addition to fresh food, any left-over scraps of food were added to the pot. The stew changed flavor as the ingredients changed, but because the pot had a lid on it and was always kept hot on the stove no one got sick from it. Likely because as Lee pointed out, the temp never cooled down to where bacteria could grow.

Paul

You are playing with fire. Perfringens spores are a thing that heat doesn't necessarily kill and you are making the perfect scenario in which to make them grow. .......Common sources of Clostridium perfringens infection include meat, poultry, gravies, and other foods cooked in large batches and held at an unsafe temperature. Perfringens can exist as a heat-resistant spore, so it may survive cooking and grow to large numbers if the cooked food is held between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F for an extensive time period. Even reheating to 165 may not kill the spores.

Freddy wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 16, 2023 2:18 pm

You are playing with fire. Perfringens spores are a thing that heat doesn't necessarily kill and you are making the perfect scenario in which to make them grow. .......Common sources of Clostridium perfringens infection include meat, poultry, gravies, and other foods cooked in large batches and held at an unsafe temperature. Perfringens can exist as a heat-resistant spore, so it may survive cooking and grow to large numbers if the cooked food is held between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F for an extensive time period. Even reheating to 165 may not kill the spores.

Okay. So store it at safe refrigerator temperatures and heat it to safe temperature every couple of days.

Refrigerate leftovers at 40°F or colder within 2 hours after cooking the food or removing it from an appliance that’s keeping it at a safe temperature. Refrigerate within 1 hour if the food is exposed to temperatures above 90°F, like a hot car or picnic.
It is OK to put hot foods directly into the refrigerator.
Divide large pots of food, such as soups and stews, and large cuts of meats, such as roasts, into small quantities to help it cool quickly in the refrigerator.
Reheat leftovers to 165°F or hotter before serving.